Dr. David Sichinava
September 1, 2018
First Meeting
Last weeks were quite hectic at IBSU, therefore starting from the next week we'll coordinate in terms of SMART. All your books, grades, assignments will be posted there. We will be communicating through SMART as well.
Lecture
Lecture
Seminar
Literature
On a piece of paper write down last TWO digits of your phone number
In God we trust. Others bring data
Ontology: a set of concepts and categories in a subject area or domain that shows their properties and the relations between them.
Epistemology: the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion.
Idiographic: relating to the study or discovery of particular scientific facts and processes, as distinct from general laws.
Nomothetic: relating to the study or discovery of general scientific laws
If \( X → Y \) and \( X \) exists, then the existence of \( Y \) is likely
Objective reality exists, it can be understood and general laws can be derived
Comte, Durkheim, Bacon, Popper, Talcott-Parsons, Merton, Lasarsfeld…
Phenomenalism: Only phenomena can be studied scientificaly
Deductivism: The goal of theory is to create a hypothesis, what in turn needs to be checked
Inductivism: Knowledge is derived through collecting facts which in turn grounds a theory
Social and natural sciences study different things therefore have different objectives
Social sciences study a subjective meaning of a phenomenon, not general laws
Weber (Verstehen - understanding), Husserl, Wittgenstein, Schutz…
| Positivism | Interpretativism |
|---|---|
| General laws of human behavior | Study informants' in in-depth and empathic manner |
| Social sciences should use similar methods to natural science | As we study our subjects through their viewpoint, the logic of natural sciences are not useful |
| Human behavior can be explained through general laws | As humans are complex subjects, it is impossible to derive general laws |
| Quantitative | თვისებრივი | |
|---|---|---|
| The role of theory | Deductivism: theory testing | Inductivism: theory generation |
| Epistemology: | Similar to social sciences, that is *positivism(s) | Interpreativism |
Social life should be studied in an in-depth manner
The rolse of natural environment
The role of understanding and interpreting the phenomenon
Interviewing
Focus groups
Observation
Case study
People give meanings to the phenomena and act according to these emanings
Meanings form through social interaction
Social action depends on the process of interpretation
The meaning of things change over the process of interpretation
Blumer, 1969
Studies the phenomenon in quantitative manner, that is how much/how many
Decribes and unveils associations and causal relations
Social reality can be understood through general laws which are measurable
Opinion polls
Randomized experiments
Census
Big data